Fuel system failure behind WA ocean ditch

A helicopter with five people on board in Western Australia's north was forced to ditch in the ocean as a result of fuel management system problems, an investigation has found.

The Bell LongRanger helicopter was on an aerial survey flight in the Buccaneer Archipelago area north of Derby on June 8 this year when the engine flamed out over water on the way to a planned fuel stop.

The pilot tried to glide towards land, but deployed pop-out floats in preparation for an emergency ditching when it became clear the helicopter was not going to reach it.

After touching water, it flipped over but floated.

The pilot and four passengers escaped uninjured after calmly waiting for water to enter the helicopter, because the water pressure outside the aircraft prevented them from opening the doors until then.

A boat crew who witnessed the emergency landing rescued them from on top of the upturned helicopter.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found that the pilot did not realise fuel on board was probably low enough to cause fuel boost pumps to momentarily un-port, which interrupted the flow of fuel to the engine, resulting in an engine flame-out.

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"Contributing to the pilot's lack of awareness of the fuel state was a likely malfunction of the helicopter's fuel quantity indicating system and a faulty low fuel caution system," the ATSB said.

"In addition, the operator's fuel management system was almost totally reliant on the fuel quantity indicating system and as a consequence, lacked a high level of assurance."

The helicopter operator has since redesigned its fuel tracking form and is considering fitting fuel totalisers - instruments that provide instantaneous fuel consumption data - to its LongRanger helicopters.

"There is a need for operators to ensure that their fuel management policy and procedures provide for at least two independent and reliable means of establishing fuel on board," the ATSB concluded.